


Griffin Girl

by EleenaDume



Series: Locked Out side stories [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Beta read by tiredandjaded, Emira gets teased by her brother, F/F, Fluff, Gen, Hexside has a questionable attitude towards student safety but what else is new, Humor, Love at first sight? More like love at first dangerous griffin-related incident, No griffins or students were harmed in the making of this fic, Viney accidentally inspires the Blight twins to skip—the fic, Vinira but make Viney Emira’s a childhood crush, but can be read separately, technically connected to Locked Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29270922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleenaDume/pseuds/EleenaDume
Summary: Emira took a moment to grasp that this was actually happening right now. A kid from her grade was willingly walking towards the ginormous beast, somehow convinced she’d be able to calm it down.‘Oh Titan. She’s gonna die. She’s gonna die and I’m gonna have to watch it.’In which the twins have a close encounter with an escaped griffin at Hexside, and Emira meets what must be the bravest girl in the entire school.
Relationships: Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Emira Blight/Viney
Series: Locked Out side stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149602
Comments: 11
Kudos: 151





	Griffin Girl

Emira was ten years old when she really noticed Viney for the first time. 

It had been a few days since Edric and her had picked their track, and the two had just gone outside for their morning break before they’d have to head to their illusion homeroom when the usual chatter of students commuting to class was interrupted by panicked screams from across the courtyard.

Students were scattering in every direction, some even dropping their belongings in their haste to get away from something that Emira couldn’t quite make out.

Like the sensible young girl she was, she snuck a bit closer, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Emmi, maybe we should not be going  _ towards _ the thing everyone is running away from?” Edric piped up from behind her.

“I’m not stupid, Ed,” she whispered. “We’re not getting super close. I just wanna see what’s going on.”

He sighed, but quietly followed her anyway, ever the reliable tag-along.

Whatever it was that was freaking the other students out... the closer they got, the louder it became.

Emira scanned the ground, noticing a couple of spiders—even for Hexside, that didn’t seem like it could be a coincidence.

Edric tugged at her sleeve.

“Emira, I have a really bad feeling about this. Can we  _ please _ just go back?”

She turned towards her brother. He seemed... scared.

Emira gave him a sympathetic smile.

“You can go back if you want to! I promise I’ll only make fun of you for it  _ a little bit _ later,” she offered generously. “But I’m not going back before I found out what-”

Emira shrieked and ate her words, stumbling back several feet as a huge griffin rushed past them, far too close for comfort.

_ It made sense.  _

The beast keeping stables were out back behind the school, too. Emira could even see the fence that was supposed to keep such dangerous animals safely locked away. 

_ It made sense for a griffin to be here.  _

Maybe not for it to break free! But that meant someone was close by that would be able to catch it and calm it down! 

Emira was definitely not going to die today!

_ ‘Right?  _ **_Right?!’_ **

“Emira, we need to get out of here!” Her brother tugged at her sleeve again, but she remained frozen in place, still in shock after unwillingly coming so close to such a dangerous creature. “Emmi, come on, we need to-”

Emira  _ wanted _ to run, but her body wouldn’t budge. Her eyes remained glued to the beast, her heart hammering in her chest.

The griffin had screeched to a halt not too far from them, and was now chirping aggressively, clawing at the grass with its front paws and lashing out at anything that got too close.

When she still didn’t move when he pulled at her arm a third time, Edric fled to the safety of the building they had just emerged from, leaving her frozen in place. 

Perhaps Emira should have been glad that her brother had gotten to safety. She  _ was _ the one who had dragged them into this mess, after all, and just because she was completely frozen in place didn’t mean both of them had to be devoured by a rampaging monster!

Emira was also, however, both ten years old and terrified out of her mind, and so her first thought was not one of gratitude, but rather,  _ ‘Ed, you traitor!’ _

Suddenly, approaching voices from behind the fence caught Emira’s attention—not enough for her to turn away from the griffin, but enough to focus on roughly making out what they were saying. Her immediate survival might depend on it, after all.

“I’m so sorry about that, Mrs. Everly!” The voice sounded like it belonged to another kid. It was vaguely familiar, but Emira couldn’t say why—not that the panic was helping much with that. “She gets a bit nervous around strangers.”

Mrs. Everly was the beast keeping teacher. Emira’s chances of survival had just increased dramatically.

“It’s okay,” Mrs. Everly said soothingly, “I’m just going to do a stun spell, and then we’ll have to see how we get her back to the stables...”

Emira let out a long breath. It was going to be okay.

“No, please don’t!” the girl protested. “Puddles is going to be so scared when she wakes up if you do that... Let me try it first, okay? I’ve got this, I promise!”

The teacher sighed. They’d reached the gate of the fence now, and when Mrs. Everly opened it, Emira saw the girl from the corner of her eye—she still didn’t dare to turn her eyes away from the griffin. 

From how little she saw of her, Emira guessed the girl was about her age. That, put together with the fact that she recognized the voice, meant it was probably someone from her grade.

“...alright. Just remember that the school bears no responsibility if you get maimed,” the teacher said.

The girl nodded and pumped a first into the air before dashing away in the direction of the beast.

“Thank you!” The tiny brunette almost ran into Emira on her way, shouting a quick “sorry!” over her shoulder before hurrying towards the griffin.

Emira took a moment to grasp that this was actually happening right now. A kid from her grade was willingly walking towards the ginormous beast, somehow convinced she’d be able to calm it down.

_ ‘Oh Titan. She’s gonna die. She’s gonna die and I’m gonna have to watch it.’ _

Hopefully she wouldn’t actually die. If the teacher was nearby, she probably wouldn’t let it get that far... Titan, Emira had thought that the rumor about Hexside’s average of three non-fatal dismemberments per year was just something the upperclassmen made up to scare her, but it was looking like she might be seeing the first. Emira felt sick, but she couldn’t look away, transfixed by the impending disaster...

A couple of the other beast keeping kids—probably the girl’s classmates—gathered around Emira, all of them watching with bated breath. 

Mrs. Everly stood closer to the griffin and the girl than the rest of them. The teacher was watching with a disturbingly calm expression, but at least she had one of her hands raised just in case.

Emira was still completely fixated on the beast, but she was also finally able to get a proper look at the fearless girl, since doing so no longer meant turning away from the griffin—and thereby risking a surprise attack from it. Not that Emira at her current size and magic skill level would have posed much of a threat to a beast like that either way... but a very slim chance was still more than no chance at all.

The girl had slowed when she was still a ways away from the griffin, and was now calmly walking closer to where it was standing, one of her hands hesitantly extended towards the snarling beast.

Emira noted that the brunette had to be among the shortest kids in their grade. She was wearing one of the most worn down uniforms Emira had ever seen, messy hair falling loosely around her shoulders as she stepped towards the huge griffin.

It was at least three times her size, maybe four. Spiders crawled from its open maw as it hissed and chittered, pawing at the ground in a clear threat of violence, but the girl kept walking towards it undeterred.

“Viney, be careful!” one of the other kids from her track yelled, startling the griffin with the sound of his voice.

It lashed out with one massive claw, the swipe barely going over the shoulder of the approaching girl. 

Viney didn’t even flinch.

“Puddles doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She’s just scared...”

Emira wanted to close her eyes, or to look away. She couldn’t watch this. She couldn’t watch the other girl get hurt. But she couldn’t bring herself to turn away, either. 

It was like Emira was under a spell, unable to tear her gaze from the terrifying image for so much as a second.

Viney stepped closer and closer to the griffin. The thing towered over her, but she showed not a moment’s hesitation.

Emira held her breath as she watched, completely mesmerized. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and everything inside her screamed at her to do something, to move and pull the girl out of danger... but she was frozen in place. Whatever insane bravery this girl had, it was beyond Emira. 

All she could do was stand there, utterly motionless, and quietly whisper “please be okay,” to herself as the girl from her grade walked right into what was potentially her own death.

Finally, Viney had closed the last remaining steps between her and the griffin, now close enough to touch it.

She muttered something inaudible, drew a small spell circle into the air and rubbed the griffin’s neck gently... and a moment later, the terrifying beast was but a harmless, happy pet nuzzling it’s head against her hand.

Emira couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She rubbed her eyes, but when she opened them again, the image was still very much the same.

The kids around her started cheering.

“There, that’s better,” Viney said, gently petting the griffin’s head like it was the most normal thing in the world. It looked absurd, especially because of their difference in size. She was rewarded with a couple happy chirps. “Now let’s get you back to the stables. And no more breaking out this time, missy! You’ve startled enough students for today.” 

She turned towards the other kids that were staring at her and cleared her throat. 

That was when Emira saw Viney’s eyes for the first time. They were the soothing green of the river that flowed right behind Blight Manor—the one that Emira sometimes ran off to when she became overwhelmed.

Right there, utterly relaxed while standing mere inches from a deadly griffin, with ruffled hair and a mud-stained beastkeeper’s uniform, Viney was the prettiest girl Emira had ever seen. 

When she spoke, Emira noticed one of the girl’s front teeth was missing. Despite the fact that she had teased Edric incessantly about that same trait, on this mysterious, fearless girl, it just made her look even cuter. 

“Alright, show’s over!” the girl said, addressing the gathered crowd. “Now get to class before I change my mind and let her eat you.”

Emira could have sworn Viney flashed her a smile. 

Emira’s heart jumped to her throat, hammering loud and fast. By the time she remembered to smile back, the other girl probably wasn’t even looking anymore.

The griffin nudged Viney gently, causing her to turn her full attention back to it. 

She laughed, and the griffin chirped happily, and on went with their day, like she hadn’t just flipped Emira’s entire world on its head.

“Wow...”Emira mumbled, still staring after the two when they’d long disappeared in the direction of the stables. 

The crowd around her had dissolved by now. 

Emira’s voice was still shaking a little when she spoke again.

“That was amazing.” She had been frozen in place the second she’d seen that beast, mentally preparing herself to be eaten. This Viney girl, however... she’d looked death in the eyes and stared it down like it was nothing. It was the most magical, incredible thing Emira had ever watched.  _ ‘I wish I could be brave like that.’ _

Maybe then she’d be able to hold a speech in front of the entire class without having a meltdown first, and to sleep without Snuggles in her bed... and maybe, just maybe, she’d finally find the courage to tell her parents that she and her siblings would rather spend the day playing in the yard than cooped up inside studying.

“Emmi? Hey, Boiling Isles to Emira Blight!”

Her brother tapped her shoulder multiple times, rudely interrupting her peaceful zoning out.

“Huh?”

Emira flinched, finally tearing her gaze from the spot where the griffin had stood to look at her brother. 

She hadn’t even noticed that Edric was back by her side. How long had he been standing there?

“Thorns, I can’t believe I’m gonna have to tell Mittens I lost you,” Edric said with a smirk. “To a stable girl, no less.”

“Hey, don’t call her that!” Emira protested.

Edric raised an eyebrow.

“Why not? She’s a beast keeping kid. That’s what mom and dad call them.”

“I mean, I guess, but...” Emira had never minded that term before, and she mostly still didn’t, but she didn’t want to refer to Viney that way. It didn’t feel like enough for someone that brave. “Can she be griffin girl instead?”

Her brother stared at her quizzically for several seconds, before a devilish grin overtook his face. Emira immediately regretted  _ everything. _

“Awwww, someone’s  _ in looove!” _

“I- excuse you?!” Emira waved her hands dismissively, but the fact that she could feel her cheeks turning red wasn’t helping to convince him. “I never even noticed her until now! I don’t like her like that! Romance is gross.”

So what if that was the bravest thing Emira had ever seen? And so what if that Viney girl looked strangely dashing with her unkempt hair and roughed-up uniform? That didn’t mean- Emira didn’t have a crush! 

Nope!

Edric still didn’t stop making that dumb face at her, and she was extremely tempted to just smack the idiot at this point. 

“It’s just, she was so cool! I don’t wanna use stable girl for someone that basically just saved my life.” Emira groaned when her brother’s smile just turned broader as a result.  _ ‘Titan, can my face stop being so freaking warm?’ _

“Keep telling yourself th-” She slapped the back of his head gently “Hey! Ow!”

“How much of what happened did you see, anyway?” Emira asked.

It wasn’t an especially smooth topic change, but Edric must have been feeling merciful, as he went along with it anyway.

“I’m not sure.” Edric rubbed his eyes. “That’s about the distance things start getting blurry at,” he joked, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Very funny, doofus. I’m serious. At what point did you stop hiding like a coward?”

“Awww, were you too focused on the pretty girl to notice when I got back?” 

He grinned, and she sighed. The worst part was that he was pretty much right.

_ ‘Tease and be teased, I guess.’ _ Such was the way of siblings. Emira shrugged. “Yeah, or maybe on the thing I was terrified to be killed by.”

“I saw most of it,” Edric finally said. “It seemed less dangerous with the teacher and the other kids there.”

“She was amazing, wasn’t she?”

Edric nodded.

“What she did was pretty dangerous, and I don’t see why she didn’t just let the teacher stun that thing… but she  _ did _ look super cool, and that’s what counts.”

“Do you have any idea who she is?” Emira said impatiently.

“I’m pretty sure her name is Viney,” her brother replied. 

Emira wasn’t sure if he actually thought he was being helpful, or if he was just messing with her, but she didn’t appreciate it either way, rolling her eyes at him.

“Gee, thanks, I totally missed the group of kids cheering her name. I meant do you know anything about her aside from that?” He raised an eyebrow at her. Emira crossed her arms and groaned. “She just saved my life! Now I want to know a bit about her. Is that so weird?”

“Awwww, you’re so in love with her!”

“I’m not!” she protested, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Are too!” He stuck out his tongue at her, and continued before she could muster a defense. “I don’t know much about Viney. She’s in our grade, and she was in our history class last year. She sat...” He thought for a moment. “Two rows behind the dog, I think? Next to the blonde girl with the batwing braids? Not sure if she’s still in our class this year, though, since choosing tracks changed everyone’s schedules quite a bit. I don’t think she was there the last time—but to be fair, I wasn’t exactly looking for her.”

The shared history class explained why her voice sounded familiar, at least. Here was hoping they were still in that class together so Emira could try and talk to her.

Or maybe not talk to her.

On second thought, that sounded terrifying.

But at the very least she’d be able to hear her talk in class, and maybe they’d get paired up together for a project, and at the very least, Emira could glance at her every now and again-

_ ‘Titan, why am I being such a weirdo?!’ _ Edric was looking at her with way too much amusement, so she guessed her face was probably all red again. She cleared her throat, promptly deciding that it was high time to move on with the conversation. “How come I never noticed her before?”

Her brother poked her.

“Because you have a short attention span?”

“Hey!” Emira protested, and he chuckled.

“Also because there’s nothing super distinguishing about her.” Edric shrugged. “We had a fair share of elves in that class, so she didn’t really stick out much. It took me a while to recognize her, and I only really remember her because of that one heated argument she had with the history teacher a while back.”

That piqued Emira’s interest.

“Really? I don’t think I remember that. What was it about?”

He rubbed his head.

“I’m not sure if I remember.”

“Well, try to!” she begged. “I’m curious now.”

“Okay, okay!”

In the quiet of Emira impatiently waiting while Edric struggled to recall something from a couple of months ago that hadn’t really been relevant to him, the quiet around them suddenly became a lot more noticeable.

“Huh. Where is everyone?” Emira mumbled.

It was strangely quiet in the schoolyard, and a quick glance around revealed that no other kids were running around anymore.

Edric glanced at his wrist watch and went pale.

“Emmi, we have to get to class! We’re super late! The bell screamed ages ago!” 

They must’ve not heard it because of the commotion caused by the griffin.

They started walking back towards the school building, slowly starting to pick up pace, when Emira suddenly hesitated. 

She grabbed her brother’s sleeve before he was able to run off on her.

“Edric, wait.” It wasn’t quite finding the courage to ask their parents for permission, but... if the griffin girl could be  _ this _ brave, Emira could at least be a little brave today, too. “If we’re late anyway, what do you say we just don’t go to our next class?”

Her brother blinked at her.

_ “Huh?” _

“We could just say we were so startled by the incident that we hid for a bit before going back to class,” she suggested.

“You wanna... lie to our teachers?”

Emira nodded, suddenly filled with determination. The more she thought about this, the more certain she was that this was a great idea. 

“Mom and dad never give us a break, and we’ve spent so much time working on our school assignments that we still haven’t gone to that new frozen screams place you wanted to try.” She knew Edric was upset about that. After he’d broken down crying over failing to turn in some stupidly hard extra credit stuff the day before, cheering him up sounded like just the right excuse to not go to class. And if he just so happened to remember anything about the fight the cute girl had gotten into with their teacher on their way there? Even better. “We’ve worked so hard in the last few weeks. We deserve a break. Besides, it’s only  _ one time, _ and we’re already better with illusion magic than most kids from our class. It’s going to be fine.”

Edric was still hesitant, but she could tell he was close to breaking.

“Emmi, I don’t know...”

She nudged him goadingly. 

“Unless you’re too scared to get in trouble? I didn’t know you were trying to compete with Mittens for ‘Blight goody two-shoes’.” 

That did the trick. Edric’s expression went from hesitant to determined in the space of a second.

_ ‘Never let it be said that I don’t know my brother.’ _

“Scared? Me? Never!” It would have been a little more convincing if he hadn’t been cowering just a few minutes ago, but maybe that was why her taunt was so effective. He grinned at her, then dashed for the gates. “Race you there! Loser does the winner’s homework today!”

Emira took off after him, laughing despite his underhanded head start.

“Hey, no fair!”

**Author's Note:**

> I think the pretty common idea when it comes to Vinira is Emira falling for Viney/vice versa when they’re around sixteen, _but_ my brain recently went “what if Viney was actually Emira’s childhood crush that Em somehow kept coming back to?” and I got attached, so... here it is!  
> I had a lot of fun with this, I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Feedback would be much appreciated!  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
